Kwara State government has organized media training on effective communication for its commissioners in order to achieve a more productive communication and dissemination.
Speaking during her familiarization visit to members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara State council in Ilorin on Tuesday, the state commissioner for Communication, Mrs. Bolanle Olukoju, said that the state government would not take relationship with journalists for granted.
Olukoju said that the state government is aware of the positive contributions of the media, especially correspondents, to the success of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s administration
According to her, it was to this end that the government moved to streamline sources of information meant for the public to media experts in the cabinet as well as to train other professionals but with little or no media experience.
Responding to observations by journalists, she said: “you will agree with me that aside the fact that we are not all gifted equally, while some are vocal others are not. Again, we all have different backgrounds and the state government doesn’t want this to affect the existing relationship with the media, that is why you saw some commissioners not responding to journalists.
“It is in this reality that the government has organized media training for the commissioners to know about ethics and etiquettes of the media so that there won’t be avoidable frictions.”
She added that at the end: “they (commissioners) will know what to say and how to say it.
“We just want to ensure that the government is not and will never be misrepresented,” she said.
She however commended the chapel for its support, saying that the bulk of the achievements recorded by Governor Abdulrahman could only be for the media friendship.
‘You people made Kwara to be very peaceful, it could have been otherwise if you had chosen to look the other way. I won’t deceive myself, I know the state is fortunate to have you as partners,” she declared.
Admitting that there can always be negative reports and the urge or need to write it, she pleaded that journalists should always cross check from her office before going to the press.
. TheWitness
